


Justice over the Citadel

by Exostrike



Category: Judge Dredd (Comics), Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Crossover, Detectives, Gen, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:59:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26717878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exostrike/pseuds/Exostrike
Summary: Sent to the Citadel to sent a warning to the council not to interfere with a revolt on Nu-Earth, Dredd stumbles across a crime that may have dire consequences for the galaxy.(A fusion of the Judge Dredd and Mass Effect universes.)
Comments: 2





	Justice over the Citadel

2130 CE

  
  


“This is a mistake, Hersey,” he said when she told him.

“I feel differently,” she replied, leaning back in her chair in the grey featureless office of the chief judge, only the view out over the city gave it any character.

“I am not a diplomat,” he pointed out.

“Which is why I’m sending you. Your presence will show that Mega city one is serious over Nu-earth.” He stood in silence for a second. He did not like politics, or Hersey using him like this.

“I do have ongoing investigations,” he said eventually. It was a weak argument and he knew it.

“I don’t believe any of them are high priority,” she noted. “I’m sure you can delegate them.”

“I will start preparing,” he said, accepting the inevitable. “It will delay the mutant vote,” he added, perhaps she had decided to do it to delay the vote. 

“It will have to be delayed. It will only be a week or two after all,” she said, trying to soften the blow. “Consider it more an opportunity to see how the rest of the galaxy administers justice.” 

And so now he stood in the council chamber of the Citadel listening to endless speeches. He looked up at the three aliens standing above them, the council, a collection of the largest political powers in the galaxy turning to democracy to maintain peace between themselves. Given how long this meeting seemed to be going it certainly was an inefficient system. 

He glanced over at the two humans in front of the council. A slightly disturbing sight to see aliens raised up above humans. They were the reason why he was here. “And these atrocities carried out by earth occupation forces in response to measured, legitimate calls for greater political presentation shows the moral imperative for an intervention by the citadel council!” the representative from the Greater Nordland Republic, one of the two representatives of the united Nu-earth provisional government launched into yet another speech. 

Nu-earth, previously one of jewels of earth’s interplanetary colonies, now in open revolt against the mega cities, and mega city one in particular. Dredd would have just sent in the space corps and gotten on with it but they had demanded protection from the Citadel council. The council of five was apparently unwilling to risk interstellar war and had decided to counter the rebel’s claims, arguing the revolt was an internal matter and the council would be violating Mega city one’s sovereignty. He’d let the political jargon flow around him. He was here to do a job and move on.

  
  


“These claims of abuses by colonial administrators are immaterial to the issue we are trying to reach”, Udina, Mega city One’s representative to the council, cut into a long diatribe by the northern representative over the actions of the mega city one garrison. “The key issue is that nu-earth and its surrounding cluster was recognised by the council as mega city one territory and therefore this is an internal matter. A politician in uniform Dredd noted. His file showed that he had barely spent a week on the streets before transferring to the diplomatic corp. Still while he could barely stand the man, he was a necessity. 

“Dredd?” Udina suddenly turned to him. “It is time for your speech.” Dredd noted, hiding the fact he stopped listening, and stepped forward. Both Hersey and Udina had gone over what the speech would entail and while he’d gone along with they wanted so much of it had been fluff, designed to distract from the core of the message.

“Earth made Nu-earth happen. We discovered it, we colonised it, we funded it’s industry, we constructed it’s cities, we sent the people who live there to it, we defended them from threats. It owes us their loyalty,” he said, looking straight at the representatives. “We have been a lenient ruler. We have allowed themselves a degree of autonomy and political freedoms, far more than they would be allowed in Mega City One. Yet they demand even more. They must realise there is a price for justice and stability.” He didn’t say what the price was, freedom was a hot button issue for the council. “Make no mistake, Mega City One will not tolerate this rebellion nor those within or without that would seek to interfere in this internal matter,” he finished, turning to speak directly to the council.

“Ah yes, what a wonderful, eloquent speech,” said one of the representatives after a moment of silence, this one from the Southern Cross Confederacy. “It is fitting that Mega City One sends their most infamous judge to be with us today. The destroyer of East Meg One, the crusher of the democracy movement, and a hundred other unmentionable acts. This is the image Mega City One wants to present. Make no mistake, this is a warning of the fate that awaits not just us if you do not assist us.”

“I have also saved Earth many times,” Dredd shot back but he could already feel the room turning against. Several boos and jeers came from the public observation galleries, protesters most likely, but even the council looked at him frostily.

“Ah yes,” the turian councillor spoke. “Your reputation does precede you.”

“An intermission for a moment?” Udina asked.

“Granted”, the asari councilor agreed. The moment the session was paused Udina waved Dredd into a partitioned off area used for discussions.

“Your presence here isn’t helping,” he said bluntly. “I don’t know what the chief judge was thinking sending you here but you are turning the council against us. It’s hard enough keeping them from taking a position on the matter.”

“I’m sure she had a reason,” Dredd said, even if he couldn’t think of one. “You want me to go?”

“I feel it would be best,” Udina admitted.

“Very well, I will return to the ship.”

“You might as well spend some time on the citadel,” Udina suggested as Dredd made to leave. “Observe how the rest of the galactic community administers justice. Even take in the sights.”

“Noted,” he grunted and carried on walking. Clearly Udina’s professional standards were slipping. Judges do not do sightseeing. Perhaps he had been away from earth too long 

After elbowing his way through an army of reporters, he started patrolling the walkways of the presidium. He didn’t think much of it. Despite all the effort on it he didn’t need to look up at the curving horizon to sense the artificially of it all. A place where politicians and corporates discussed their power games in the illusion of paradise. He headed for an elevator to one of the wards. He wanted to see the real citadel. 

He was approached by a C-Sec patrol as he walked. One of them clocked onto him and pointed for his partner. He gave a subtle nod as they passed. Just enough to recognise their presence, not enough to show respect. While the species of the citadel still clung to the ideas of trial by jury and from what he had seen no officer would survive an hour in the meg, they were the law around here.

The thing he most noticed as he took the lift was the looks. Almost every alien he passed looked at him with curiosity, or destain as if he some unwelcome intrusion. At least one turian looked like he was about to ask him a question until he radiated hostility. It was a sign of a lack of respect for the badge. Only the few humans he came across respected the badge, stopping talking or looking away as he passed them. They knew what he represented. They knew the power of the law.

After an unacceptably long elevator ride, he had regretted taking the free public elevators, he arrived at the wards. After walking along an arcade of shops he arrived at a viewing platform where a tour guide was prattling off unnecessary facts. He paused for a moment to look out over the block like buildings stretching out before him and then up at the four other arms of the citadel and their glowing road patterns. He turned to scan the people around him. While it might look like the big meg, it didn’t feel like it. It lacked the energy, the tension, the fear. It was almost like these people were happy in their existence. He wondered how much he would have to peel away to find out the truth. 

He walked through a marketplace, filled with traders selling military hardware. How did C-Sec remain so low key? He passed a case of handguns. Mass drivers. High armour penetration with little recoil. Totally banned from earth of course. Last thing the department needed was perps capable of shooting through armour. Thankfully the cost of smuggling them in and cheaper alternatives meant they were rarely seen on the streets.

He clocked onto an approaching group of humans. Five males, well built in matching clothes. No visible weapons, still potential gang. He scanned their faces, he didn’t recognise any of them but one of them certainly had a south sectors gang tattoo on his arm. “Can’t get us here lawman!” one of them quipped, flicking an obscene gesture towards him. His hand itched for his missing daystick. At the very least that perp would be on the way to the cubes for insulting a judge. But he couldn’t without causing a diplomatic incident. He has no legal authority here. The man was quickly hustled away by his friends, who shot equally hostile looks at him. Clearly escaped perps had integrated themselves into the local criminal networks. He wondered if they were running their own by now. 

He continued his patrol, growing restless in these air conditioned corridors. He’d have preferred the energy and movement of the slab, or even the presidium. He stopped, something was out of place. He quickly scanned the crowds for threats. Nothing in the crowd. There, a medical clinic with its blinds down. None of the other shops were closed, even if foot traffic was lighter here. He approached the clinic. According to a sign next to the doorway, it was within operating hours. Its sign was still illuminated. His senses told him this wasn’t normal, that usually meant crime. 

There was a muffled crash on the other side of the glass. He withdrew his lawgiver and readied himself. “Control, am…” the words died in his throat. There was no control here to inform of the situation. He didn’t have legal authority. Find a local patrol, report the situation, observe their response. That’s what his brain told him to do. Still he was loathed to simply walk away from a crime.

There was a cry from inside the clinic. Human female. A life potentially in danger. That confirmed a crime was in progress. He braced himself. There was no time for backup. Action needed to be taken now. He opened the door and moved inside. 

At the back of the room, three men, at least two armed, surrounded a human woman in a doctor's uniform. A rack of medical equipment knocked over. Robbery?

“I didn’t tell anyone. I swear!” the woman protested, clearly afraid.

“That was smart doc,” said the apparent leader. “Now just keep your mouth shut…” the man said. He stopped, seeing Dredd entering. “Who are you?” he barked, grabbing the doctor as a human shield and aiming his pistol towards Dredd.

“Drop it creep!” he snarled, shifting the lawgiver manually to ricochet.

“It's a grud damned judge!” one of the others exclaimed.

There was a shot from deeper inside the clinic. Mass accelerated judging by the way it blew apart the leader’s skull. The corpse hit the floor with a wet thud, taking the doctor with it. She screamed in terror. One of the perps fired wildly, shattering the glass behind Dredd before he shot him. The remaining perp, still fumbling for his weapon was gunned down by the unseen third party from a backroom of the clinic. 

Dredd drived for cover behind a pillar while the doctor scrambled into a corner clearly in shock. “Identify yourself!” he ordered, his voice filling the suddenly quiet room. There was the click of a weapon from the otherside of the door. He braced himself for renewed combat. “Garrus Vakarian! C-sec,” came a reply. Alien, perhaps turian.

“Judge Dredd, Mega City one justice department,” Dredd responded, at least he was dealing with a fellow law enforcement officer. “Reveal yourself!” A turian dressed in the blue armour of c-sec stepped out of the doorway, arms slightly raised.

“Perhaps a bit of trust between professionals would defuse this situation?” Garrus suggested. Dredd lowered his lawgiver, the alien had a point, and stepped into the open. 

“What brought you here?” Garrus asked, clearly suspicious of Dredd’s presence.

“Noticed the clinic was closed but the door wasn’t locked. Decided to investigate. Heard the doctor, scream,” he replied. “You?”

“Chasing a lead, saw the same thing and entered through the back door. Pretty good timing, you turning up like that distracted them.” 

Garrus turned to the doctor who had come out of cover. “Dr Michel, are you alright?”

“I’m okay,” The doctor replied with a strong euro-city accent, whipping brain matter from her hair. “Thanks to you both.”

“What happened? Did you know these men?” Dredd asked.

“They work for Fist. They wanted to shut me up. Make sure I wouldn’t talk about the quarian,” she explained.

“Who’s Fist?” he asked. He didn’t know much about the criminal networks here.

“Local human crime boss,” Garrus explained. “Never proven of course, Runs a club a couple of levels down. Suspected agent for the Shadow broker.”

“And this Quarian wanted to speak to the shadow broker?” Dredd asked. Things were starting to fall into place. The mysterious alien information brokerage network was known even in mega-city one. 

“Correct,” Michel admitted. “A few days ago a quarian came to the clinic . She’d been shot but wouldn’t tell me who did it. She was scared, probably on the run. She asked if I could get her in contact with the shadow broker, to trade information for a safe space to hide. I put her in contact with Fist, he works for him.”

“And you didn’t report this to the authorities? She could be an escaped perp?” he pointed out. Michel looked reproachfully at him.

“It’s not crime,” she pointed out. “Plus the information she was going to trade was about the geth.”

“The Geth?” Garrus said in surprise. “They haven’t been seen this side of the veil in centuries.” Yes he had encountered the robots during the Judge child case.

“Yet someone is willing to kill for information about them,” Dredd said. 

“There also been rumours in the last day or so that Fist has broken off his relationship with the shadow broker. Some unknown third party bought him out,” Garrus explained.

“He betrayed the shadow broker! He must be mad. But he had arranged the meeting,” Michel said, confused.

“He arranged a meeting? when?” Dredd asked.

“He’d passed on a message saying he had a representative waiting. A few minutes after she’d done to the rendezvous these men showed up,” she pointed to the bodies lying around.

“She’s in danger,” Garrus said.

“I concur, clearly these creeps were sent to remove any witnesses,” Dredd said.

“You mean they were going to kill me?” Michel muttered.

“Quickly now, do you know where the meeting place is?” Garrus asked.

“Yes, I’ll transfer the details to you,” she replied, activating her omni-tool. An unnecessarily flashy tool Dredd thought. Garrus’s model bleeped in confirmation.

“Service ducts level 25, will take us quite some time to get down there,” he noted after reading the details.

“Then let’s get moving, we might still be in time,” Dredd said, heading to the door.

“Freeze!” Two C-Sec officers burst through the door, weapons drawn. Clearly someone had reported the gunfire. “Hands up!” one of them, a salarian, shouted after seeing Dredd. Dredd reused to raise his hands.

“Stand down!” Garrus ordered, stepping in front of Dredd.

“What’s going on?” the Salarian asked, lowering his weapon slightly.

“Ongoing investigation,” Garrus explained. “Thugs attempted to murder the doctor, she needs a security detail and probable treatment for shock. You’ve got three fatalities back there. Will need forensics and clean up teams. Take over here, another civilian’s life may be in danger,” he rattled off orders in a professional manner.

“What about the judge?” the other officer asked, waving his weapon at Dredd.

“He is assisting me with my enquiries,” Garrus replied. “Now let’s go,” he added to Dredd as he made for the door. Dredd paused for a second before following, he was not used to someone else taking the lead.

Garrus led him on a long run through the wards, through tightly packed arcades, deafening hover car terminals and echoing industrial and service districts. Eventually they dived into a service elevator that would take them close to the meeting point. Despite being an orbiting space station it certainly had the variety of the streets. “You know this place well,” Dredd commented as they rested.

“Been here for twenty years,” Garrus replied, breathing heavily. “How long have you been a judge?”

“Fifty years,” Dredd replied, like it mattered.

“Surprised a human so age could keep up,” Garrus commented as the lift started slowing down.

“I am a judge,” he muttered as the lift’s doors opened.

The service area was a mass of cables, ducts and tanks wedged between two storage habitation zones and the citadel’s base structure. Who knew how many access points there were into the place. The perfect place for a secret rendezvous, or a gangland murder. “Quarian!” he shouted as they advanced along a walkway, weapons drawn. “You are in danger! Do not go to the meeting Head towards my voice!” No response. To be expected. He swept the area for movement, the creeps may still be in the area.

Movement down a side passage. “Freeze!” he ordered, aiming his weapon. Some bug like thing coming out of the shadows. “Halt for I fire!” His hand tightened on the trigger as the alien kept on coming.

“Stand down,” Garrus said, lowering his own weapon. “It's only a keeper.” Dredd remembered the briefing mentioning the bio-engineered maintenance creatures of the Citadel. He lowered his weapon slightly.

“Face it, we’re too late,” Garrus concluded as they finished checking the area. “The quarian is probably already dead.” He looked despondent.

“We haven’t found a body,” Dredd pointed out. He started looking over the area for clues. Conditions weren’t great, evidence easily lost in the grunge with a forensics team but the trail was still fresh. “Got something here,” he said, there on a wall was a blast mark, it looked fresh.

“Could be weapons damage,” Garrus admitted after examining it. Dredd traced a rough line of travel across the area to where a pile of abandoned crates had been knocked over. On one of them he found a splash of liquid, it felt like blood, probably human from the colour.

“This is where the meeting took place,” he concluded. “Probably realises it’s a trap and gets off a shot before they jump her. She tries to fight them off and injure at least one of them before she goes down.”

“But she’s not killed?” Garrus asked. Assuming they hadn’t moved the body.

“Whoever bought out Fist wanted this information to disappear, that means they need to make sure she didn’t tell anyone else or keep a second copy.”

“So they need to torture the information out of her,” Garrus said, catching on to his train of thought.

“You said Fist ran a club,” Dredd said.

“Yeah, Chora's Den, a few levels from here,” Garrus confirmed. “You’re not thinking what I think you are?” he asked.

“I think it’s time we paid Fist a visit,” Dredd said.

They marched through the public corridors towards Chora’s Den. Certainly seemed to be the nightlife part of the citadel, the clank and jingle of casinos, the electronic beat of dance halls and clubs, the sound of people partying. Below it all an edge of danger, of vice, of crime. “You don’t want to call in backup?” Dredd asked.

“No,” Garrus replied. “We call in backup, HQ will want a full report before they’ll take action. By the time we’ve done that the quarian could be dead.” Sounds like someone has a problem going by the book, Dredd noted. Not a good habit. On the other hand he agreed with the conclusion and stayed quiet.

“Expected resistance?” he asked.

“Unknown. Club has a couple of bouncers with licensed firearms. Of course that’s what they legally have,” Garrus replied.

They took the passage down to the club that crossed over a hover car tunnel, the pods screaming past. There was already a line of people waiting to enter the club. They simply walked past them up to the single human bouncer on duty. “What do you want?” he asked as Garrus approached, Dredd hanging back slightly.

“C-Sec,” Garrus replied, flashing ID. “I’m performing an investigation and would like to ask some questions.”

“Sorry mate, no law enforcement allowed in without a warrant,” the bouncer replied. “If you want in, some after work.”

“We’ll see about that,” Dredd responded, stepping forward.

The bouncer’s face paled when he saw Dredd’s badge. “Jovus,” he muttered.

“Mega city one lad?” Dredd asked, the man looked american.

“Yeah. What of it?” the man replied, trying to recover his composer.

“Then you’d know what would happen to you if you did what you just did in the big meg?” The man shifted uneasily.

“You don’t have any power here,” he muttered.

“Are you so sure?” Dredd asked. “I am working with a C-Sec officer after all. I could be on transfer to demonstrate the efficiencies of the judge system.” He cracked his fist to demonstrate.

“Please no,” the man almost pleaded.

“Let us in. Don’t tell anyone,” Dredd ordered.

“Okay, you can go in,” the bouncer instantly caved, moving out of the way to let them inside. The line exploded in protests, distracting the man. “Impressive, I didn’t know you had such a reputation,” Garrus commented as they entered an anti-chamber.

“It’s sometimes useful,” Dredd admitted. It wouldn’t take long for the man to sober up and alert the rest of the club to their presence. 

The sound of the music washed over them the moment the inner door opened. A heavy techno beat, some serious sound proofing installed. Dredd looked over the scene. The club was on at least two levels with balconies looking down onto the circular central bar. Nearly naked dancers, mainly asari, danced on a platform above it and at various points around the room. Patrons sat around on chairs or enclosed private seating pods. Lots of places for illicit conversations. The rest mingled around between the bar and the stairs to the upper level where a dance floor appeared to be set up. No obvious signs of security, but in a place like this it never would be. One door into the back on the far side of the room. 

They walked up to the bar. “We want to see Fist,” Dredd stated, slamming his fist on the countertop.

“Fist doesn’t see anyone unless he wants to,” the barman replied, still turned away from them as he cleaned a glass. “And he certainly doesn’t want to see you,” the words stopped in the man’s throat as he turned to face them. A wry look on his face dissolving into surprise as he saw Dredd and Garrus. “How the hell did you get in?” he asked.

“The man at the front let us in” Garrus whipped.

“I’ll kill him,” the barman muttered.

“Cut the wisecracks, tell us where we can find Fist?” Dredd asked 

He sensed the barman’s hand move to reach for the panic button more than saw it. Instinctually he grabbed the man’s head and slammed it down onto the counter top, cracking the glass. He then chucked back against the back of the bar, bottles shattering into a thousand shards. There was a scream from a startled nearby patron, heads turned towards them. He Pulled out his lawgiver and fired into the air to make sure everyone was listening. “This is a raid!” he boomed through his helmet loudspeakers. “Leave the area immediately!” And everything dissolved into chaos.

People screamed and scrambled for the exits. Somewhere an alarm started, barely audible over the music. Garrus has drawn his weapon, ordering people to get clear. He scanned the crowd for hostitles, knocking away any that got close. A dancer on a catwalk withdrawing a weapon from a concealed compartment. He fires, the body falls onto the crowd below. More screams. The music is suddenly cut off, the alarm coming in loud now. Someone is charging towards him, waving a pistol, civilian dress. He takes him down anyway. 

Men burst out from the backroom carrying weapons. Club security. Garrus opens fire, taking down one. Dredd took down another. The third one, partly armoured simply shrugs off the shots with a blue flicker. Kinetic barrier. Stop any bullet until overwhelmed. Not like he was going to waste ammo. “High ex!” he said, felt the click as the lawgiver switched ammo types and fired. The wall behind the target exploded, sending the man flying. Limited effectiveness against explosives. 

Something slams into his shoulder pad, knocking him backwards onto a sofa. He looked up to see a concealed entrance had silently slid open, should have detected it, and a krogan in full battle armor was now advancing towards him. Clearly the uniform had done its job and confused his aim, causing him to go high. Garrus was on the other side of the bar dealing with another krogan that had appeared. Clearly the heavy hitters kept on standby. His krogan fired again, blowing chunks out of the sofa. “Armour piercing!” he said and fired a burst from over the top of the sofa before diving back into cover. The shield simply stopped them. The krogan was too close now to risk a high ex.

Suddenly there was a cry from the upper level and something jumped down, crushing the krogan beneath it. Dredd stuck his head out of cover to see another krogan in red beating his attacker’s face into the ground. He swung around to see Garrus take out the krogan on his side. His flank secure he focused his weapon on his apparent saviour. “Identify yourself!” he ordered.

“No need to thank me, human,” the krogan replied, standing up to look at Dredd. Red eyes and carapace, massive scar across the right hand side of his, he assumed, face.

“Identify yourself!” he repeated, tightening his grip on his weapon. He knew krogan were tough targets. He’d killed enough during Cal’s reigh.

“My name is Wrex,” the krogan replied.

“What are you doing here?” he fired off. Garrus scrambling to get over to them.

“I assume the same thing you are, Fist,” Wrex said, looking around the remains of the club. “You fight well for a human so I will give you fair warning. I’m going to kill Fist.”

“You’re a bounty hunter,” Dredd said, piecing things together.

“Something like that, a contract from the shadow broker.” Wrex readied his weapon. “Are we going to find him?”

“What makes you think we need your kind of help?” Dredd said in disdain.

“To be fair we don’t know what kind of reception is awaiting us,” Garrus pointed out. “We could do with the assistance.” Dredd shot a look at Garrus, a man of the law using a bounty hunter, barely above a criminal, as part of an official operation. On the other hand he could see the logic of the argument.

“Fine,” he said, lowering his gun. “But we’re taking Fist in alive!”

“Try and stop me,” Wrex muttered.

“Dredd, you’ve been hit! Did your shield go down?” Garrus said as they approached the door to the rear areas of the club, noting the damage to his uniform.

“What shield?” Dredd replied, switching to a fresh clip. Garrus looked around the shattered room, dust still hanging in the air with amazement. Clearly the idea that someone would go into combat like this without a shield had never occurred to him. It had made them careless.

The three of them approached the door to the back rooms. “Sealed,” Dredd observed trying the access panel. To be expected. “You think a breaching charge will open this?” he asked.

“No need. Should be able to hack it,” Garrus said, activating his omni tool.

“Krogan, take point,” Dredd ordered.

“I have a name you know,” Wrex complained.

“Done,” Garrus said as his omni tool bleeped and the door unlocked. “Someone’s been upgrading their security.”

“Another charge to add to the list,” Dredd noted. “We go on three.”

They rushed into the room in a single movement. Visibility was low, only emergency lighting. A shot came out of the shadows from behind the crates that lined the room. It harmlessly bounced off Wrex’s shield. Dredd fired at the source. An unarmoured body fell to the ground. “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” a man screamed, coming out hands already up in the air.

“Anyone else?” Dredd asked the room. The was the clatter of a gun falling to the floor and a woman came out of cover.

“Please we just work in the kitchens!” the man pleaded. Garrus kicked open a door leading off the room revealing an empty kitchen, mostly automated.

“Just cooks,” he said, lowering his weapon.

“Where’s Fist?” Dredd asked, his weapon still aimed at their prisoners.

“I don’t know! His office maybe,” the man replied.

“He could also be in the off limit area,” the woman added. The man flashed a look at her.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” Dredd said, lowering his weapon. “However you’re still both under arrest.” He slammed the man against the wall, pulling out a set of cuffs.

“Dredd?” Garrus asked, confused.

“They must have known Fist was a criminal,” Dredd pointed out, cuffing the man to a large pipe. “At the very least they’re guilty of failing to report a crime, most likely more.” He chucked a spare set of cuffs to Garrus.

“But I only started working here last week,” the woman protested as Garrus advanced on her.

“Failure to report isn’t an offence,” Garrus pointed out, pausing.

“You want potential hostiles on our backs?” Wrex argued.

“Fine,” Garrus muttered, pulling out his own, lighter, set of chuffs. “C-Sec will compensate you if you are proved innocent,” he said to the woman as he chuffed her, in a less restrictive position than the man.

“Oh you bet we are,” the man replied.

“Shut up creep,” Dredd slapped him on the back of the head. 

They entered the only other door from the room, it opened onto a small open plan office, cubicles hurriedly abandoned, and at the end the door to Fist’s personal office. “You think he’s inside?” Garrus asked as they prepared to enter.

“If he’s smart he’d have an escape route,” Dredd replied, checking for any obvious surveillance devices. “But we might find out where they’re holding the quarian.” 

Wrex activated the door to the office, revealing an empty high class office. No sign that it had been hurriedly evacuated. “Empty, Garrus noted. “I’ll check the computer.” Dredd heard the faint electronic beep. 

“Down!” he ordered. He dived to the floor. A hatch on the ceiling snapped back and a turret popped out. Garrus’s shield flickered as bullets slammed into him, both him and wrex scrambling for cover, firing back as they did so. The turret resisted their fire, clearly shielded.

“Armour piercing!” Dredd said and fired a burst into the ceiling. The turret sputtered and died. His hunch had been correct. While the turret itself had been shielded the support base wasn’t and he’d hit something important. 

“That’s so fine shooting,” Garrus said, getting up.

“No thanks to you. You shouldn’t have rushed in like that. What if it had been a bomb?” Dredd said, reproaching him, dropping down to examine the security sensor Garrus had tripped.

“Fine, I screwed up. But I doubt Fist would blow up his own office just to keep intruders,” Garrus replied, moving over to the computer on Fist’s desk.

“You don’t know the creeps in mega city one,” Dredd muttered, checking the room for any other concealed gun turrets. “Got anything?” he asked as Garrus started hacking into Fist’s system.

“Most of the files are heavily encrypted, too heavy for my omni-tool. Though certainly some juicy stuff,” Garrus replied.

“Anything about the Quarian?”

“The most recent files are the most encrypted. Hold on I’ve got something.” Garrus reached over and pressed a button on the computer’s holographic keyboard. There was a sound from the outer office. Dredd went to the door to see a concealed door had swung inwards, revealing a secret corridor. “I remembered that reference to off-limit areas from the cook. I checked the management suite and saw an option that shouldn’t have been there, ” Garrus explained. He moved over to the newly revealed corridor, checked it for hostiles and quickly scanned it with his omni-tool. “Clearly Fist was bigger than we thought, none of this is on the station’s blueprints.”

“Then let’s see what we find,” Dredd said, stepping into the corridor, gun at the ready. 

They advanced down the corridor checking the side rooms, piled high with illegal goods. Mainly a mix of citadel and earth narcotics, Red sand, Zziz, Hallex, even some sugar. Clearly Fist had connections back home. As they approached a turn they could hear voices up ahead. “So I asked you again, who did you tell?” a male voice asked.

“Fist,” Garrus whispered as Dredd slid an eye around the corner, the corridor opened out onto a catwalk overlooking a large room. No visible guard. The voice had come from below.

“I said I didn’t tell anyone else,” another voice said, female, alien. The quarian?

“Oh I find that hard to believe given a couple of men just wrecked my club,” Fist replied. “Don’t worry they won’t find their way in here.” Dredd and company slowly started moving along the corridor.

“I don’t know who they are,” the quarian replied. There was a clunk and both Fist and the quarian grunted.

“You are being very uncooperative.” Dredd reached the catwalk and looked down to see Fist standing in the centre of the room nursing his hand. In front of him strapped to a chair was a quarian in a purple suit. Clearly Fist had attempted to slap the quarian but had forgotten about the suit. A couple of henchmen stood around with weapons. There was a stairway down to the lower level plus a ladder. Several other passages exited off the room on both levels. No clue if any of them contained more hostiles.

“You know,” Fist said, leaning over the quarian. “I could decide to peel you out of that pretty suit of yours and stick you in the trash for a few hours. I wonder whether that will make you change your tune. Or perhaps there is another way,” he added, grasping the quarian’s mask.

“Step away from the Quarian!” Dredd ordered stepping forward to be visible on the catwalk. “This is the law!”

“A judge?” Fist said, standing there looking up in shock for a moment. “What are you waiting for! Take him out!” he screamed to his guards. Suddenly the quarian pulled back, rocking the chair slightly and headbutted Fist, causing him to stagger backwards in pain. The guards raised their weapons but Dredd fired at the unprotected one while Garrus and Wrex engaged the armoured guard.

Dredd made for the stairwell, firing as he went. Fist made to run as the remaining guards returned fire. A shot to the leg made him hit the floor. There was movement in the passage on the other side of the catwalk. Enemy trying to flank them. Dredd fired a burst down the passage and the target went down. Bullets wiped around him as he started walking down the steps. LAst visible target was shielded and in cover at the other end of the room exchanging fire with Garrus still on the catwalk. He saw the target’s shields flicker and die as Wrex flanked him on the other side of the catwalk. The target dived back into cover. “Ricochet,” Dredd said and fired, the shot bouncing off the wall and behind the boxes the target was hiding behind. He did not reamerge.

Suddenly everything was silent and still, apart from Fist struggling on the ground and cursing. Dredd advanced over and checked behind the boxes. The target was dead. Fist was trying to pull something out of his pocket. “Drop it creep!” Dredd said, kicked his arm away, a hold out pistol clattering across the floor. “Are you injured?” he asked, turning to the quarian and starting to cut her bounds away.

“I’m fine,” the quarian responded, the light on the chin of her suit blinking in sync with her voice. “Who are you?”

“We’re friends,” Garrus explained, kneeling down to tend to Fist’s wound with medigel. “Dr Michel told us about you. We saved her from some of Fist’s goons,”

“I knew I shouldn’t haven’t trusted him,” the quarian muttered.

“You’ve got a name?” Dredd asked.

“Tali,” Tali replied.

“Ok then Miss Tali. What do you know that's so valuable people like Fist would be willing to kill to get it?” Dredd asked, nodding at Fist who was remaining silent on the floor.

The quarian was reluctant for a second before picking up their omni-tool from a bench where it had been dumped along with her other items. “During my pilgrimage I started hearing rumours about Geth forces operating beyond the veil, I was intrigued by this and went to investigate. I was able to track a group of them to an uninhabited world and was able to disable an isolated unit and remove its memory core,” she explained, activating the omni-tool and showing off a list of files.

“I thought Geth wiped themselves when disabled?” Garrus pointed out.

“They do,” Tali admitted clearly well aware of that fact. “But if you're quick, some data survives. I stumbled across it while data mining for strategic plans.”

“Stumbled across what?” Dredd asked.

“This recording in its audio banks,” Tali replied and activated something on her device. Garrus fiddled with his own omni tool to record the details.

An audio recording started, fuzzy with corruption and the electronic hum of machinery. “The clues point to the beacon being on Nu-Earth. With it we will be one step closer to finding the conduit,” said a male voice, probably turian.

“And one step closer to the return of the reapers,” said a second voice, female, asari.

“That’s Saren!” Garrus exclaimed as the recording fizzled out. “Was that who bought you out Fist?” he turned to look down at the man. “Did you attempt to murder Tali on the orders of Saren?” he asked.

“I want my lawyer,” Fist spat back.

“You’ll need to get him in an integration cube before he’ll talk,” Dredd noted. Fist was a mega city hardened criminal after all. “So who is the Saren?”

“He’s a spectre. Black ops and special forces agent responsible only to the citadel council itself,” Garrus explained.

“I am aware of them,” Dredd said. He’d read the intelligence reports about the spectres, and those that had tangled with Justice department forces.

“Yeah but Garrus has been dodgy for years. He’s been accused of going rogue and pursuing personal agendas. Been running an investigation on him for years. I think this time I’ve finally got him. No way the council had condone working with a criminal and attempted murder. But how did he start working with the Geth?”

“I don’t know,” Tali replied. “But it explains why I was pursued halfway across the galaxy when I tried to tell the information.”

“More importantly what does he want on Nu-earth. What is this beacon they’re looking for?” Dredd asked.

“No idea,” Wrex said, stepping forward. “You’re finished with Fist?” he asked.

“He can’t give us any more information,” Dredd admitted, turning away from both of them. “But I’m sure C-Sec will want to talk to him about his illegal activities.”

He suddenly realised what was about to happen and started turning but it was already too late. Wrex aimed his shotgun at Fist’s head. “Please no!” Fist screamed, throwing up his hand to cover his face. Wrex fired, turning Fist’s head into a bloody mess. Dredd’s lawgiver stopped moving an inch from Wrex’s skull. Garrus a few seconds late, aimed his own gun at Wrex.

“Drop the weapon!” Dredd ordered. At this distance Wrex’s shield wouldn’t stop the bullet.

“The shadow broker paid me to kill him,” Wrex explained, still holding his weapon. “I never leave a job unfinished.” 

“Drop the weapon,” Dredd said again, his finger tightened on the trigger. His gut said to execute Wrex now but his brain no. There wasn’t sufficient justification, yet anyway.

“Fine,” Wrex said, dropping his weapon to the floor. “I did tell you I was going to kill him.”

“Doesn’t matter now creep. You’re under arrest,” Dredd replied, slapping a set of cuff around Wrex’s hands. Even if he probably could tear out of them easily.

“What for?” Wrex asked, simply annoyed by the situation.

“Murder, making illegal agreements, vigilantism, interferance in a law enforcement operation, and killing a key witness in said operation,” Dredd replied, he could probably add a few weapons charges on as well. “Got anything C-Sec specific to add to the rap sheet?” he asked Garrus.

“Not really. I doubt many of those charges will stick,” Garrus admitted.

“You should be able to get him for murder at least,” Dredd replied.

“I like you Dredd,” Wrex commented. “You cut right to the chase. I respect that.”

“Well I don’t respect you, creep,” Dredd was going to say when the air was filled with the sound of pounding boots. Figures flooded onto the catwalk about them. Fully armoured, rifles aimed and ready.

“This is C-Sec! Get on the ground now!” someone shouted. Tali was already diving towards the ground, Wrex waved his handcuffs in the air, Garrus stepping forward calling for people to stand down, and Dredd just stood there in the middle of everything.

“Good to see the backup has finally arrived,” he muttered. 

Udina looked at Dredd with concealed rage. “When I said observe things this isn’t what I meant. Firefights on the wards, a full scale raid on Cora’s Den, multiple citizens dead including three crushed in the stampede. Do you know how this looks?” he asked, trying to conceal his anger.

“I was assisting a c-sec officer in his investigation,” Dredd explained bluntly. “A life was in danger.”

“Yes, an officer who is now suspended pending an official investigation.”

“A fact I was not aware of,” Dredd admitted. Turned out Garrus had been running his investigation against Saren without the authorization of his superiors and was supposed to be doing something completely different. He should have seen it sooner, all the clues were there. But he’d been too caught up on completing the mission at the time.

“Of course you weren’t supposed to know,” Udina said, putting a hand to his forehead in frustration. “Still this Garrus gives us someone to pin the blame on. If we’re lucky I can convince c-sec from pushing charges against you. Your diplomatic status is the only thing keeping you out of a cell.”

“He is a good officer,” Dredd said, rising to offer a defence of Garrus. “While he might have bent the rules we did the right thing taking down Fist.”

“Perhaps,” admitted Udina. “But I’m pretty sure it's ex-officer now,” he added. 

“What about this information the quarian revealed to us?” Dredd said, attempting to regain control of the conversation. No way he would allow someone like Udina to order him around. “Council spectre about to launch a convert operation on Nu-earth? I’m sure the rebels wouldn’t like the Citadel council invading their space.”

“From a recording taken by a Geth. People still struggle to believe a lone spectre has somehow forged an alliance with them,” Udina pointed out in a dismissive tone. “We’ll still use it of course to muddy the waters but I doubt anyone will take it seriously.”

“People were willing to kill for that information,” Dredd pointed out, though he could already see the end of the conversation.

“Yes, clearly someone thought it was valuable,” Udina admitted. “Perhaps this talk of prothean beacons on Nu-earth attracted criminal elements. We should avoid mentioning it,” he added.

“Why?” Dredd asked. There had been no mention of the beacon being protean, though admittedly it wasn’t a big mental jump. Udina sighed, clearly annoyed Dredd had brought it up.

“We don’t want to confuse the issue, the focus should be on the spectre Saren and Nu-earth,” he explained. 

“Of course” Dredd said, turning away. “You are our representative afterall.” Politicians. He hated how they played with the facts to achieve their games.

They returned to the council chamber, past the crowds of protester and reporters, where the debates were still going on. Though this time it was about the legal basis for intervention in another race’s territory, the status quo after the first contact war came up a lot. Udina took over from his aide who had been arguing mega city one’s case and took the stand. “I have received startling information relating to this debate. A recording has surfaced, retrieved in a Joint Citadel Security and Justice Department operation in which a council spectre talked about stealing technology from Nu-earth!” he announced, a mummer of voices coming from the spectators. “I feel this revelation casts a question mark over the council’s intention towards Nu-earth,” he continued, starting the recording from Tali. Dredd looked on impassively as the recording played. Whatever he felt about Udina, he knew how to put on a show.

The council listened to the recording in silence giving nothing away. “Yes we are aware of this recording,” the turian council member admitted after the recording had finished. “And how it was acquired.”

“Yes,” the Salarian council member said. “A recording taken from a destroyed Geth by a Quarian suggesting an alliance between them and Saren. It seems improbable.”

“Perhaps this is an attempt at disinformation by an unknown third party,” the Ssari council member suggested, though her look at Udina suggested she thought earth was behind it.

“People were willing to kill for this information. I feel that alone gives it validity. Plus analysis has confirmed that it is Saran’s voice in the recording,” Udina pointed out. 

“And innocent people were killed in that operation,” the Turian council member pointed out. “In any case recordings can be faked and you’ve failed to provide any other proof. Instead you simply slander the name of one of the council’s greatest operatives and accuse us of duplicitous intent.”

“While I would normally agree with you,” the northern Nu-earth representative said. “I feel I must press this issue. We had made it clear the territory integrity of the nu-earth will not be violated by anyone, even though covert means. Where currently is this spectre Saren? Why does he not defend himself personally?”

“The south agrees. What can the council offer us to disprove this allegation?” the southern representative spoke up. The council shifted, its members clearly uneasy as the two human factions united against them.

“Agent Saren is currently on a mission that we may not discuss,” the Asari council member explained. “The council is confident that once his mission is complete Saren will be able to disprove these allegations against him.” There was uproar from the nu-earth representatives and even Udina voiced his displeasure.

Dredd sensed this was the moment to push the issue. “I feel the situation is obvious,” he said stepping forward.

“Dredd what are you doing?” Udina hissed at him.

“The council is using it’s agent Saren as a deniable asset,” Dredd continued unabated. “To work with the Geth and criminal elements to launch an operation on Nu-earth while pretending to be a neutral party. The message reveals how they plan to steal a prothean beacon from humanity and keep it for themselves. Do you deny this?” he asked, turning to glare at the council.

The lighting in the room suddenly changed, privacy screens descending over the public galleries. The session had just been put into restricted status. Limited public viewing and censored recordings. The asari council member glowered at him in silence for a second. “These are extreme allegations,” she said eventually, choosing her words carefully. “As such the council will open an investigation into these allegations, recall Saren to the Citadel and temporarily suspend his Spectre status, pending the findings of the investigation.

“A good outcome of the session,” Udina said, almost pushing Dredd back. “If we may…”

“However the council feels that until we have received more information about this case the council is unable to reach a decision on the petition from Nu-earth. This session is suspended,” the asaria continued. Despite the protests of the Nu-earth representatives the hammer sound of the council retiring boomed around the chamber as the members disappeared from view. 

“Thank you very much Dredd,” Udina muttered towards him in annoyance as they left the chamber, the crowds having been cleared away by security.

“It at least produced some action from them,” Dredd replied.

“You really do not understand politics do you,” Udina said and walked away. Confused Dredd followed him.

He brooded silently as the shuttle flew the short trip to the Judicator, an old Arlow class cruiser that had been put into orbit around the citadel to act as the base for humanities representatives to the Citadel. A formal embassy on the station itself was considered too sensitive. He glanced up at Udina on the opposite bench, they had barely spoken since the council chamber, he didn’t understand why. The council had practically rolled over at his attack, it had been a weak response, but it had been a success. Udina was acting like he’d caused them to back the rebels. He looked out of the window as the bulk of the ship but out the light of the nebula, missile batteries still visible on the hull. They were empty of course, but a visible reminder of the tension between earth and the rest of the galaxy.

“I take it, I will be leaving soon?” he asked as he and Udina walked along a corridor. “My part is done here and C-sec seems to have decided not to press charges.” The sooner he was back on the streets of megacity one and away from politics the better.

“Not entirely,” Udina said, stopping at an apparently random briefing room door. “There is someone you need to meet,” he opened the door and stepped inside. Dredd followed to see two people inside, a human in a space corps officer uniform and a turian in armor.

“Who is this?” Dredd asked, looking at the Turian.

“This is Nihlus, a council spectre,” Udina explained. “This is Commander Anderson,” he waved to the human.

“And why is he here?” Dredd asked. Why were they letting an alien spy on to the embassy?

“There was an additional reason why you were sent here,” Udina explained. “Please sit down.” Reluctantly Dredd complied.

Anderson rose to his feet and activated a holographic display. “A week before the Nu-earth revolt researchers uncovered what is believed to be an intact prothean beacon in Nu-albany,” he said, flashing up research data from the dig site.

“Now you see why I did not want you mentioning the beacon. You nearly managed to ruin the plan by forcing the council to discuss the issue,” Udina explained.

“When the revolt started the researcher team was evacuated and the beacon reburied. Long range observation by classified sources have shown no major activity at the site,” Anderson carried on, bringing up a timelapse photo of orbital photography. “We are therefore preparing a mission to Nu-earth to retrieve the beacon and give it to the council,”

“Why give it to the council?” Dredd pointed out. It made no sense to throw away such an important discovery.

“Because for doing so the council will not intervene when you invade Nu-earth,” Nihlus replied. “Beyond the usual diplomatic condemnations.”

“Seems a change from what the council was saying,” Dredd pointed out.

“You’ll find a lot of what said in the council chamber is for public consumption,” Nihlus said. Dredd grunted in understanding; politics. 

“The council of five felt it more important to regain control of Nu-earth than any potential technological advantages,” Udina said, moving on.

“Why wasn’t I informed about the real plan?” Dredd asked. It was unusual for Hershey to keep details from him about a mission.

“We were still negotiating the details of the trade when you left earth,” Udina explained. “Plus I suggested that you shouldn’t be told until after the session. It did make your speech more convincing. Perhaps too convincing,” he admitted.

“I am capable of deception,” Dredd snapped back. He was disappointed that Hersey hadn’t rejected the suggestion. Could his opinion of Udina sink any lower?

“I am not surprised. You judges seem to have a knack at lying,” Nihlus commented.

Anderson coughed slightly before the situation turned into a diplomatic incident. “Now that Dredd has been brought up to speed I advise we start the mission as soon as possible. There is always a chance the rebels discover the site after all,” he pointed out.

“A good idea,” Nihlus said, getting to his feet.

“Just one thing,” Dredd said, getting up as well. “Saren. Is he part of this operation?” he asked.

“Saren?” Nihlus asked, suddenly uneasy. “No he was not informed about the operation. I don’t know anything about that recording. But I’ve known him for years. He would never go rogue.” But he could be used to double-cross us, Dredd thought. Steal the beacon first and give the council the ability to renege on their deal.

“It did seem implausible,” he said, keeping his thoughts to himself. 

They walked through the corridors of the Judicator until they came to a hanger. Much of the unmodernised ship had been converted into hanger space for visiting earth craft, though this particular hanger was empty. “It appears your ship has not arrived,” Nihlus said. Anderson smiled and activated a radio.

“Normandy, drop optical,” he said. There was a flicker in the air and a ship was suddenly filling the hanger bay. “Normany. Next generation stealth frigate. Full impervious to sensors for a limited period of time with optical camouflage for surface operations,” he rattled off the details as they approached the docking port. “I am her commanding officer and I will ensure we get to Nu-earth undetected.”

“Is it a good idea to reveal such technology to a rival government?” Dredd nodded in the direction of Nihlus.

“The council is aware of your stealth capabilities,” Nihlus said, clearly intrigued by the ship. “But you’re optical camouflage is impressive.”

“Yes it has proved useful,” Anderson commented.

They approached the airlock which slid open to let them enter. “Please note however your movements will be restricted while onboard and your actions will be monitored by the computer,” Anderson warned Nihlus as they stepped into the chamber.

“Welcome back Captain,” an electronic, unemotional voice said.

“Ah yes, one of your controversial artificial intelligences,” Nihlus commented.

“We’ve had no problem with droids,” Dredd pointed.

“Apart from several machine uprisings,” Nihlus pointed out.

“That we crushed,” Dredd pointed out. He never knew why the other races were so fearful of droids and AI, without them the megacities would have collapsed long ago.

“We are not here to debate policy,” Anderson pointed out as the airlock finished its cycle. “Do you accept these conditions?”

“I don’t have much choice but to,” Nihlus pointed out. 

They exited the airlock and stepped into a small chamber. Several officers snapped to attention. “EDI, get me the bridge. We take off immediately,” Anderson ordered.

“Complying,” the AI replied.

“This is my executive officer,” Anderson said, pointing to the woman in a space corps marine uniform. He turned away for a second, speaking with the bridge over a commlink. Dredd felt the ship hum as they prepared to launch.

“Greetings,” the woman said, stepping forward. “I’m commander Shepard.” 

“Dredd,” he replied. “I take it we’ll be working on this mission.”

“Looks that way,” she replied. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is not intended to be a full AU version of the mass effect trilogy just with Dredd but I do intend to do a couple of chapters to flesh out the concept and explore the world a little.


End file.
